Rating History: Two and a Half Men
TWO AND A HALF MEN (CBS) Two and a Half Men, one of the most anticipated sitcoms of the decade, premiered in the comfortable post-''Everybody Loves Raymond'' slot (the Monday 9:30 half-hour) on 9/22/03 to an impressive 5.9, holding about 90% its 6.5 lead-in. It dipped a combined 19% in weeks two and three (to a 5.0 and then a 4.8), but it turned around and built towards its premiere number in the late fall, peaking at a 5.7 on 11/17/03. By the midseason finale it had dipped back down to a series low 4.7, but at this point on average it was retaining a solid 80% of its lead-in, so CBS gave it an extended order. Two weeks into its winter return, it surged to a stout 6.2, and hung from 5.0 to 6.0 until March, when it broke another barrier with a 6.4 demo. Then came a lengthy hiatus, and it returned to its series low 4.7, but it perked up in May, and jumped to a powerful 6.6 demo for the finale, building on its 6.3 lead-in. Its 5.55 average qualified it as a clear big hit for CBS, so it was given a second season following the final season of Everybody Loves Raymond ''in 2004-05. The 5.5 for its season two premiere marked a noticeable year-to-year drop, but it quickly reversed the trend, and by mid-October it had already cracked a 6.0. From there throughout November sweeps it held primarily in the 6's, and on 11/22/04 it hit a series high 6.8. It came back to Earth a lot from there, embodied by a very underwhelming 5.8 fall finale, which only held about 2/3 of its huge 8.7 ''Everybody Loves Raymond lead-in. It began 2005 at a promising 6.2, but it dropped all throughout the winter, going as low as a 5.1 on 3/21/05. The average retention at this point was an acceptable 70%. It hung in the upper 5's for its next three episodes, but then on 5/16/05 (the night of the Everybody Loves Raymond finale) it rocketed to a whooping 8.1, holding an impressive 70% of its massive 11.6 lead-in. Its finale the next week aired after a rerun, and it dropped all the way down to a series low 4.6. Nevertheless, it ended up with a 5.86 average, which qualified it as a borderline megahit and encouraged CBS to slot it in the 9:00 Monday anchor role for 2005-06. The 5.1 that began Two and a Half Men's 2005-06 season was down only 7% from 2004-05, which was a fantastic result considering the question of whether or not the show could succeed without the help of a strong lead-in had been prevalent. It wandered in the low 4's and upper 5's for the next few weeks, before rising to a season high 5.5 on 10/17/05 which it maintained the next week. The show held at 5.0+ for the rest of the fall, and finished out the first half of its season with some momentum, jumping to a 5.7 on 11/28/05 and scoring a 5.6 for its midseason finale. It returned in January to a season high 5.9, and pulled mainly upper 5 results all through January, February, and March. As is usually the case for this sitcom, a lengthy hiatus impeded the momentum, and it returned on 4/10/06 with a series low 4.5. The rest of the spring saw more mid 4 outings, and it even dropped to a mere 3.8 for its penultimate episode. But then the show gained a ton of redemption when it spiked to a 5.1 for the finale, matching the premiere number and marking a year-to-year increase over the prior finale. Overall, it ended up averaging a 5.15, which was a wild achievement considering it was thrown into a competitive timeslot at a young age with essentially zero lead-in support. Two and a Half Men's fourth season started with a stellar 5.0, down only a tick from its 2005-06 premiere. It got up to a 5.2 by 10/9/06, but then spent the rest of the fall in the upper 4's until picking up to a 5.1 for the midseason finale. The show began 2007 in the upper 4's, and stayed at that level until jumping to a very impressive season high 5.8 for its first February sweeps performance. That momentum flamed out quickly and by March it had gotten all the way down to a 4.0. It started to recover a bit in April and May, epitomized by a 4.7 on 4/30/07. But things went sour again on finale night, as the show dipped from a 4.6 for its penultimate episode all the way down to a 3.6. The year-to-year figure was troubling; it was down 29% from the season three finale. The 4.78 average still qualified it as the clear #1 comedy on television, so it was surely a win. Adults 18-49 info by season: